Downfall of the Gods
by Resza
Summary: The Gods have taken everything from Resza. She is in the war of Light and Darkness, trying to find the path in between the two as she fights for a safer world for her family.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

Everyone always says the Gods are all powerful. They protect us and our families. We sing their names and tell stories of their deeds. However, the Gods view our world as a game board. We are their pawns. The Gods kill without any regret if a pawn dares to stand against them. The defiant ones are always struck down. They're not the ones to get heroic stories. They are made to be wicked.

No one tells tales of the ones who have killed Gods.

Resza was just starting to fall asleep when a sharp pain in her leg made her open her eye. Her husband, Trentis, was glaring at her while Lebbeaus droned on and on about...well, she wasn't listening anyway. She glared right back at Trentis before trying to sleep with her cheek cradled by her hand once more. Another pain. He was kicking her. Without opening her eye, she kicked back at him. Trentis's foot pressed down on hers. She could almost hear his voice saying as she frowned: _You need to actually listen._ She stuck her tongue out at Trentis making him roll his eyes and shake his head. Swiftly, he took her hands and held them down so she couldn't sleep. "Hey!" She whispered. "You kept me up last night so let me catch some sleep, damn it!"

"There's a time and place to sleep, darling." The incubus whispered back. "This isn't one."

"Of course it is. Lebbeaus says nothing of worth anyway so if you will," she struggled to pull her hands away from his grasp. "I'd love to get back to my beauty rest."

He scoffed. "You don't need any more. You're completely fine the way you are."

"Says you."

"Yes because I am your husband."

"So," she smirked up at him. "You're required to say things like that?"

"Perhaps," Trentis answered with a wink. "But you know I mean every word I say to you."

He refused to let her wrists go the whole war meeting.

They watched the steady flow of commanders and others pass by, each saluting to Resza and avoiding Trentis's gaze. "I don't see why you have a problem with me sleeping in meetings when Lebbeaus is running them!" Resza complained.

"What if Cichol was there?"

"He knows you've kept me up all damn night for who knows how long." She replied. "I could poke a billion holes into Lebbeaus's plans."

"Then do so next meeting. I look forward to hearing all about the great Human General's plans!" The Fomor General was behind the couple.

"How about I do that right now? First off, we can't go right through Bangor because we would become bottled up in the…" the word escaped her. "Uhh…"

"Valley." Trentis muttered.

"What he said. It would be a slaughtering ground and we'd be the pigs."

Lebbeaus yawned. "Yes, yes. Of course you _always_ have such a great solution. You should hear Cichol rave about you, my dear."

Resza bristled. "They're better than yours! I stormed the Paladin capital!"

"And then promptly ran off with a Royal Alchemist, letting Emain go under Paladin control again, then having the nerve to show your face around here." Trentis caught Resza's wrist as her fist came up to punch the Fomor General. "Please," Lebbeaus didn't even bat an eye. "Get your little helldemon under control, Trentis."

"Hell demon?!" Resza struggled again Trentis as he completely locked her arms behind her.

The incubus picked her up and didn't release her until they were to their room. He tossed her onto the bed. "This war has been dragging on long enough." Trentis sighed.

Resza stood up and began pacing, ranting and raving about Lebbeaus, the war against the Paladins, Morrighan, even Trentis himself. "If you didn't hold me back I would have-"

"'Totally and completely won against him'." Trentis finished her sentence. "Of course you would have." He nodded toward marks on the wall. "Please read your final tally for going against me."

Resza did so. "Twenty two to...one hundred and fifty…Well," she turned on her heel. "We know each other so well so course you'd win! I let you."

"All the time?"

"Yes."

He laughed. "I've heard that too many times."

Resza rolled her eye. "Whatever. We got to go train those recruits."

"Don't scare them off."

"Scare them off? They all have a crush on me. _You're_ the one who they're scared of, sweetie."

The Human General of the Dark Knight army watched the ill-prepared recruits pant as they ran laps. "Come on, you can do a few more!" She called out to the stragglers. "Once more, then we rest!"

They ran on, out of a mixture of wanting to impress Resza and fear of her anger. When she finally called the end, the recruits straightened. "You did poorly. I expected better, but you're all kind of squishy. I'll crush that out of you sooner or later." Resza mused. "Do you have any questions?"

"Are you single?" A voice called out from the back.

Trentis kissed Resza quite deeply and when they pulled apart, Resza straightened as though nothing happened. "No. I don't tolerate those questions. If you ask them again I will pull off your fingernails."

Once the recruits had been introduced to the different types of weapons they would need on the battlefield, she sent them off to the training dummies to get a feel for the swords, bows, and staves. _If we can't get these recruits whipped into shape in a year or two,_ Resza felt a chill down her spine. _We might lose this war._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2.**

The sun had begun to set when she sent the sweating and tired recruits to their quarters. "Be ready for class lessons tomorrow." Resza called out to them.

Only a few glanced back to acknowledge they had heard. "What do you think of them, Trent?"

The incubus had his arm around her shoulders. "Under your teachings they're going to be the ones charging and screaming at the enemy."

"Good! That's what you're supposed to do!" Resza laughed.

"Not if you're carrying a child." Trentis muttered quietly as they entered their room.

Resza stripped off her armor and dress. Two small bat-like wings, now free from their armor prison, stretched from Resza's shoulder blades. She examined her naked body in the full length mirror. The dragon tattoo that snaked from her right hand up her arm to her right breast had remained where it was. Trentis came up behind her and buried his face into her curly red hair. His hands rubbed her stomach. "I worry about you, Ressy."

"I worry about you, too." Resza turned her head to kiss him.

They stood there in silence before Trentis spoke again. "I don't want you to go into any more battles."

She smiled and pulled away from his embrace. "You can't stop me. I'll only stop when our child has gotten much, much bigger. Could you please tell the servants to start the bath?"

He nodded, his expression unreadable even to her as he walked off. Resza fell onto the bed. Her hands went to her stomach where their child grew. "Do you feel how much we love you, child? If Riuyuki was still alive, you'd have a big brother. Well," she paused. "A half big brother."

When she was pregnant with Riuyuki, her half Incubus son, her stomach had not gotten very big. Would it be the same with a full Fomor child? Resza wondered. It had only been three months before when she and Trentis found out she was pregnant and turning into a half succubus because of the child. He had to massage her shoulders and back for weeks before the wings had begun to form...Resza looked up as Trentis came back. "They're getting the baths ready." He said.

"Okay," she still lay there and smiled up at him when he sat next to her. "Will you be joining me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Trentis leaned down to kiss her.

He laughed when he felt her tongue dart between his lips playfully. "I thought you had wanted to sleep tonight, love."

"I do, but who says we can't have some fun in the baths?"

"Lebbeaus. Cichol."

Resza picked up a pillow and threw it at him. "They don't matter!"

He dodged the pillow. "You're going to attack your husband? Shall I tell them you're abusing me?"

Resza growled before sitting up and throwing herself at him. He caught her and held her close. "I don't abuse you!" She cried, her face buried up against his chest.

"You just threw a pillow at me-" Resza kissed him again.

Trentis let her lean into him and slowly lay back on the bed. His wife pulled away and slid down to his chest. She lay her head there, listening close to where his heartbeat would be. "I love you." Resza said as she sat up.

"I love you, too." The incubus shifted his head to her lap, closing his eyes as she stroked his blonde hair, scratching at the base of his horns as he liked. "I just want my first child to not…"

"I know." Resza said. "I am always careful, you know."

He gave a wicked grin, not opening his eyes. "Resza Stalwart, a careful woman? No, no. The world would end."

She gave him a slap on the forehead. "Trent, I'm serious! Right now I know I can defend myself just fine, but once our child starts showing I won't be able to."

He sobered. "I'm sorry."

"You better be, or else I'm not going to take of your," she glanced at his erection. "problem."

Trentis sat up and growled as her hands slipped into his pants to quickly play with the length before withdrawing. "You're going to be the death of me one day, I swear to the Gods."

There was a knock on the door. "General Resza? Commander Trentis? Your bath is ready."

"Thank you." Resza called out.

She wrapped herself in a towel and took Trent's hand as they walked to the baths. The water was hot at first, but they both became accustomed to the temperature quickly. Resza floated into Trent's lap, sighing as he wrapped his arms and wings around her tightly. His lips were at her neck. "Are you hungry?" Resza felt his tongue flick across her skin.

"For you, I am." His breath was cold.

"You don't even have to ask, Trent."

"I prefer to." His fangs sank into her neck.

The incubus drank deeply for a minute or two. His arms tightened around Resza as she tilted her head back more. He licked his lips as he pulled away. "That's better."

She giggled from the ticklish sensation of his tongue lapping at the spots of blood from her neck until they stopped bleeding. "Would you take care of the problem now, my General?"

Resza eyed him, squirming against him for added torture, then smiled big. "I don't think so."

He leaned back and groaned. "Yeah, you're definitely going to be the death of me. Stop moving!"

She dipped under the water to kiss the head and came back up, laughing loudly. "You're _always_ torturing me so this is a taste of your own medicine!"

Trentis had a feral look in his eye as he grabbed her and turned her to face him. "You didn't think I had noticed you rubbing yourself, did you?"

Another wicked grin. "You're all ready for me, aren't you?" His lips were at her ear. "Do you want me, Resza?"

"Y-Yes."

He whispered into her ear: "Too bad."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3.**

Resza faced the recruits. They all sat at tables in one of the unused rooms of Shadow Rath Castle. She pulled off her glove, showing the dragon tattoo upon her palm. "This is the physical mark of a Dark Knight. All Human Dark Knights have it when they finish their training. This is the mark of Darkness. It gives us our strength at the cost of our sanity and lifeforce."

The Mark seemed to grow darker for a moment and then tendrils wrapped around Resza's hand, forming a deadly-looking gauntlet. She examined it with a bored look before the gauntlet seemed to melt away back into the tattoo. "You may ask, 'Why would anyone take the Darkness willingly?' It's because of it's power. If you can control the Darkness within you then you can defeat anyone in your way, even a God...in theory."

She led the recruits back out to the training grounds after an hour of class work. "I want you to pair up. Whomever you choose, that will be your partner."

"Until when?" A recruit asked.

"When you know by the twitch of their hand they're going to strike and how they're going to strike the enemy."

Seeing the look of confusion among them, Resza sighed. "Hand me those swords."

She tossed one of the blunted training swords to Trentis. The two stepped into the sparring ring. They bowed, both laughing at some inside joke before the fight began. Through the flurry of kicks and blows, it looked as though the two were dancing as one advanced and the other dodged back. After some time they stopped. "Until you know them inside and out, until you can do that with your partner, then you will train with them. I want all of you to know each other as well as Trentis and I do."

As they watched the recruits pair off and begin training, a messenger came to them. "General Resza, Cichol requires your presence in the throne room immediately."

"Did he say what it was for?"

"A mission, milady."

Resza smiled at Trentis and kissed his cheek. "Excellent. Take care of the squishies while I'm gone, alright?"

"Your wish is my command."

Resza and the messenger walked to the throne room in silence. "Yeah, my lord?" Resza called out as she entered.

The God of the Fomors sat on the throne. His white wings draped to the floor. "There has been sightings of Paladins in Shadow Realm Taillteann. You'll take your recruits and destroy the intruders."

"But," Resza said. "They're hardly trained for actual combat."

"The scouts tell me the Paladins are low rank. They would be perfect to see who can actually bloody their blade without remorse."

"But…"

"That is all I require of you. The Paladins will remained tracked. Go tomorrow and destroy them."

Resza gave a shallow bow, turned on her heel, and left. Letting the recruits, who were only around ten or so, kill so soon? Was Cichol really that desperate? Resza thought. Her thoughts turned toward her first son. Riuyuki was such a peaceful boy. He tried to protect Resza from Morrighan, but it had cost him his life. Kyo had died at the Goddess's hands, too. Both her first husband and her first child had died at Morrighan's hands.

Her hand went to her stomach as she paused in her stride. "If anyone harms you I will destroy them. I promise, child."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.**

She jerked awake. Resza had barely slept, she had a horrible feeling about the mission. "Are you okay?" Trentis mumbled.

Resza turned to face him. "No. I can't shake this feeling about everything going horribly wrong."

Her husband stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. "The recruits weren't just shoved in here, they know which end of a sword can kill them."

She couldn't just lay here. Resza got up and began pacing, shivering slightly in colder early morning air. "But what if we lose them? They're only children! I can't send children to their deaths!"

"Resza," Trentis stood and caught her as she walked by the bed. "Nothing will happen, okay? It's the Darkness making you doubt yourself."

Resza shook her head. "It's not the Darkness! I...Never mind. We have to do this." She pulled away from Trentis before he could kiss her again. "Let's get ready."

The recruits were both excited at the prospect of killing and yet scared of what lay ahead. Resza and Trentis had the only horses. "It shouldn't take long," Resza walked through the rows with her incubus following behind as usual. "But that does not mean we take this any less seriously, alright? I want the Paladins alive. If you must, bloody your blades but do not kill them unless I give the order."

"Cichol told us-"

"Cichol won't be there, will he? You listen to me."

"Yes. General."

They saw the Paladins near the outskirts of Tailteann on the road to Tara. She had a few recruits follow her with Trentis left behind with the others. She wanted this group to look like a small patrol. "Halt!" Resza called out.

The Paladins stopped but some fidgeted. "Why are you here?" Resza asked.

"Does it matter? You're all Dark Knights." One of the Paladins said.

"We are," Resza dismounted and walked toward them. "But we are willing to let you go if you turn around now. If not, we will be forced to take your prisoner."

A few of the small force laughed. "There's more of us then you, darling."

The leader of them advanced, a dagger in hand. She didn't move as he cautiously reached out to her, touching her cheek. "My. my. You're quite the catch. A little damaged, but…"

Another dagger was buried into his neck before he could finish his sentence. Resza laughed as the light died away in his eyes. "You're surrounded." She said to the others as the recruits came from the shadows of the trees, led by Trentis who took his dagger from the body. "Nice aim, dearest."

He smirked and turned to the Paladins. "Drop your weapons and we won't hurt you."

None of them did so and only one slowly backed away. Resza's eye narrowed at the one who backed away to the edge of their forces. She nudged Trentis and jerked her head toward the fearful Paladin. The incubus nodded. "Then I'm sorry, but we will have to do this the hard way."

The boldest of the recruits charged first, yelling wildly. The Paladins met them head on. The day was full of the sounds of a small skirmish. Though outnumbered, the Paladins managed to take down a few Dark Knight recruits before being captured. "Resza." Trentis alerted her as the recruits were taking their prisoners to the wagon they had brought.

She had seen the flash of white, too. "Stay here. I'll get him."

"But-"

"We've had this discussion before, honey." She snapped. "I can handle myself."

Hurt, he watched his wife rush to the fleeing knight. Resza slowed down as the Paladin stumbled to the ground and then looked up at her. "D-Don't hurt me!" He cried. "I'm not here to fight!"

Resza still had her sword drawn as a precaution. "Take your helm off."

"I…"

"Take it off, please."

The Paladin hesitated still. Impatient, Resza walked over to him and pulled it off. As she looked upon the knight's face, she swore she felt her heart stop. "Riu...Riuyuki?" The knight backed away against the rocks as her blade was in his face. "What game do you think you're playing?" The General's voice shook. "Why do you look like him?!"

His black curly hair was longer. The small horns that marked him as half Fomor had grown out. His eyes were full of fear and sadness. "Mother-"

"Don't call me that! Who are you?! Tell me before I kill you!" Her voice wavered now.

"I-I am your son, Resza."

"No you're not. Riuyuki died when he was only ten!"

"I didn't suffer the True Death. I was judged too young and had too cruel a death."

" _Every_ Milletian suffers the True Death when they're killed!"

He shrugged. "I don't know why I was allowed."

"Prove that you're my son."

"My fathers were Kyotaro, a Champion of Morrighan, and Zaknafien, the Incubus who raped you. That's why I'm half Incubus. You used to ask Kyo to make you ice roses in the morning, your favorite color is purple, you used to be Human, but I can sense you're different now."

"How did Riuyuki and Kyotaro die?"

"Kyo took a spear of Light in the chest to protect us. Anobarrs surrounded us, so I used ice magic to freeze them, but Morrighan tore me away from you and flooded me with Light. I died from that."

Resza's sword clattered to the ground as she held her son for the first time many, many years.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5.**

"You will not execute my son!" Resza was being held back by the guards in the throne room.

Cichol stood from his throne. "He's the offspring of you and a Champion with a dash of Fomor in him. He's on the enemy's side. Tell me why I should not execute him."

"He's my son!"

"Why does _that_ make a difference? You're going to have another child. You can train that one."

"Riuyuki died at Morrighan's hands!"

The God of Fomors sounded exasperated. "He still fought for her, Resza. He cannot give us any useful information about the Paladins and Morrighan."

"Cichol, if you lay a finger on him-"

"Do not threaten me, whelp. It was I who raised you when your parents gave you to me. I was the one to take you back when you had run off with that Champion and again when you came back from that Royal Alchemist. You cannot threaten me."

Resza struggled harder, screaming incoherent words. Her pain was the reason Cichol refused Trentis in here. It would have made it harder to control both of them. He looked down upon the shackled half incubus boy. "Riuyuki," the God said. "What do you have to say as your last words?"

"My lord," Riuyuki looked up at him with the same defiant look as his mother. "While I have the side of Light within me, do not forget I also have two sides of Darkness. I can be useful to you, I swear."

Intrigued, the God nodded for him to proceed. "I know who the higher commanders of the Paladin army are, I can lead you to their hidden training camps, they're planning a rush towards Shadow Tara since you have acquired Goibne. The Paladins want him back to strengthen their weapons."

Cichol was silent as he pondered this for what seemed a long time. Even Resza kept silent. "You may live for now. You will be placed under Lebbeaus's command instead of your mother's."

"Cichol, you can't-"

"Resza, if you say one more word I will kill him right here and now."

She went limp against the guards holding her back, bowing her head as Riuyuki was unshackled and led from the throne room to meet with the Fomor General. "You may leave." Cichol said.

Resza shook off the guards, glaring at them before exiting and gathering her weapons from the door guards. She was silent until relief flooded her, causing her to fall to her hands and knees. _He's alive for now. You wanted to have him with you, that's true, but at least he's alive…_ she thought. _**Ah, but what if Lebbeaus turns him into someone unrecognizable? You don't know how your son has grown. Is he a killer like you?**_ The thoughts came unbidden.

Resza bit the inside of her mouth. She refused to acknowledge the darker thoughts snaking in her mind with images of her son killing others that made her stomach turn. _**What if...what if...what if…?**_ They continued to bounce in her head when Resza came to her quarters. She threw open the door and slammed it shut behind her. _I can't let it in. Riuyuki isn't a killer. He's too much like his father._ _ **Which father? The Champion or the incubus who raped you?**_ _Like Kyo. Kyo only fought if he had to. Riuyuki running away from us proves he's still like Kyo._ _ **He could have done that to fool you.**_ Resza slowed her breathing and closed her eye. She focused on only her breathing, not the negative thoughts that tried to break her concentration. In and out. Breath deeply. Release the negative energy in every exhale. She opened her eye when Trentis came into the room. "Cichol let him live?"

"Yes. How'd you know?"

"If he didn't we'd have a dead God on our hands."

Resza gave a tight smile that disappeared quickly. "No one's killed a God. Don't be ridiculous."

Trentis sat next to her and pulled her close. "If there was anyone to do that, it would probably be you."

"What? How?"

"You just keep getting up out of refusal to lose when we spar. I'd hate to imagine what you'd be like against Morrighan."

Resza gave a hollow laugh. "It doesn't matter much anymore now that my son is here. For now, he's safe. I'm worried Lebbeaus will form him into something he doesn't want to be. Riuyuki isn't a killer. He didn't take after me."

Trentis played with her hair and gently pushed her back so they could lay together. "What would you have done if Cichol put Riuyuki under you?"

"Kept him by me. I don't want him to grow up to become a killer. I'm...I'm getting tired of all these deaths…" Resza sighed.

"You're the General of Cichol's Human Dark Knights." Trentis kissed her gently. "I understand that you're tired of it all."

Resza turned away from him. "Please let me sleep, honey. I just want to sleep."

Her eye looked for him during the meeting. She felt joy when he came in following Lebbeaus and took a seat across from her. Riuyuki looked so small sitting in the chair, he was almost like a child again. His face looked so worn...Resza didn't hear anything of the meeting. She was too focused on her son. "Riuyuki," she caught up to him when the meeting came to a close. "You know you can find me if anything's wrong."

He smiled a little. "I'll be okay, Mother."

The boy turned to Trentis and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry we couldn't have met under better circumstances, Trentis. But I take it you're my stepfather now?"

"Yes. Did Lebbeaus update you?"

"Well," Riuyuki glanced toward the incubus General. "With plenty of colorful descriptions and quite a lot of bashing."

Trentis smirked. "Don't take anything he says about us seriously."

Resza wanted to hold Riuyuki again, but Lebbeaus called the boy away. "Resza," Trentis's hand was on her shoulder.

She glanced down. Her hand was on her rapier without even thinking about it. "We can get him back."

"I hope we can before it's too late." Resza turned away as Riuyuki left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6.**

"The Paladins have been gathering in Shadow Lake Neagh and Shadow Blago." Resza's voice carried clearly across the room. "They're going to make a push towards Shadow Tara. What we need to do is have the Fomors on the south of Tara and Humans in Corrib Valley with a mixture of Fomor and Human in Tara itself incase they break through our defenses."

"Will the Human recruits be in this?" A commander asked.

"As much as I do not want them to be, they're close to graduation. I think they can be at in Tara."

"The Fomor recruits will be on the front lines," Lebbeaus said as he studied the map. "They gain the most experience that way."

"You do what you want but if my son dies, your head will be off." Resza said without looking at the incubus General.

Lebbeaus rolled his eyes as the meeting continued.

* * *

"Cichol," Resza rose from her kneel. "I need Riuyuki by me in this battle."

"He can handle himself."

"My lord I cannot be at my best if I'm worrying about him."

"Yes, you can be. You used to be when you thought he was dead. You will fight without him by you."

"Then I'll order my army to surrender."

The throne room was silent. "You'll what?"  
"You heard me," Resza said. "I'll order my army to surrender. The North is the quickest route to the castle. If I order them to surrender, the Paladins have immediate access."

"If you did so you would be put to death."

"I don't fear the True Death. Give me my son. I'll defend you with my life."

Cichol waved her off, annoyed with her. "Just go. Riuyuki will be by you."

* * *

Resza walked the front lines of the Tara defense. "I purposely made the Corrib Valley defense a bit sparse," she spoke to both Trentis and Riuyuki. "I want their spirits crushed when they get here."

"How much longer til they get through?" Riuyuki asked.

"Perhaps an hour or two. Get ready!" Resza called out to the army. "Archers, prepare your arrows! Get your armor together and your swords sharpened, I want the Paladins to be colored red by their own blood!"

The army cheered and Riuyuki swallowed his disgust. Resza caught his look. "I do what I have to, Riuyuki."

The half incubus nodded slowly. "It's very difficult to see."

Resza hugged him. "Blame Morrighan for this."

It was only a half hour later when the archers began to fire upon the first Paladins making their way from the valley. Resza waited til most of the army was finished struggling through the valley before ordering the Dark Knights to charge. The air became full of bloodthirsty yells from veterans and recruits alike as they rushed towards their enemy. Resza, Riuyuki, and Trentis were part of the second wave as they ran with the army. Both Resza's and Trentis's blades were slick with blood as they defended each other from the Paladins, some of which had looks of surprise as they saw the fabled Human General fighting alongside her army. Riuyuki followed behind them only pausing to heal Dark Knights who had a few minor wounds. "Do you think they have their General with them?" Resza panted as she scanned around them.

Her eye caught his appearance at the same time as Riuyuki saw. "That's...Father?" Riuyuki's face was heartbroken and shocked. "He was dead! Nao told me he couldn't come back!"

Resza's sword shook. "We need to-"

Trentis blocked Kyotaro's sword. "Hello, Resza." Kyotaro said.

His dark blue eyes, once so warm, were now cold and calculating. Resza shook off the shock as best as she could and forced herself to see him as nothing but the enemy. Her lips tightened and she ducked under Trentis's blade to stab at Kyotaro, but the Champion caught it on his gauntlet. "I see you've remarried." He shoved both of them off.

"Yeah, because you died!" Resza rushed at him again.

Their swords clanged together as they fought. Resza could see Kyotaro's form was off as she watched him. "You just had to see Morrighan that day, didn't you?!" She yelled.

"The Goddess knew what was best. It's unfortunate you didn't see it that way."

Resza backed off as Trentis came up behind Kyotaro. He sensed this and jumped to the side, but Trentis's sword cut into Kyotaro's feathered wing. Resza reached forward and grabbed his head as he was turning away to ram the upper metal of her greave into Kyo's face. The Champion called out to Riuyuki, but the boy stood there with a stony face. "You're not Father." The boy said.

"I know he isn't." Resza panted as they watched this false Kyotaro struggle to his feet. "His form is off."

He looked down Resza's blade as it was pointed in his face. "Who are you?! Why do you take on General Kyotaro's form?!"

The man gave a breathless laugh as he came to one knee and wiped the blood from his eye. "You're too smart for your own good. Resza."

She saw the twitch of his eye to his left. Resza made a move to stop him, but there was a flash of light and Morrighan herself had grabbed onto Trentis's throat and flew into the air with the incubus. "Tell your Dark Knights to surrender or else I'll kill him. I'll flood him with Light just like I did with your son! Do it!" The Goddess of War and Revenge screamed at Resza.

Resza's mind went blank. She saw Trentis struggling and yelling at her to keep fighting. "You Gods always think you can control whomever you want, don't you?" Resza threw her sword to the ground. "Release my husband so I can finally kill you."

"You're not going to surrender?"

"Never."

Trentis's scream of pain shook Resza to her core. She felt the Darkness fuel her rage and form the armor around her as she ran toward the Goddess and leapt into the air. Resza wrapped her arms around Morrighan's waist. Her gauntlet's sharpened tips dug into the Goddess's skin as Resza climbed and took Morrighan's hands that were at Trentis's throat and forehead. With Darkness fueled strength, she tore Morrighan away from her husband. She didn't even look to see where Trentis had landed, all Resza could feel was the years of anger and sadness as the Darkness formed a blade in her hand. Resza swung around to Morrighan's back. The Goddess struggled as Resza grabbed onto one of the wings and stabbed into the shoulder blade. "I'll make you fucking suffer as I have, you damn bitch!" Resza screamed as they fell.

She felt the wing tear off completely as they hit the ground and the Darkness overtook her mind, causing her vision to go black.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7.**

Resza was bent over, her hands clasped around a sleeping Trentis's. Her forehead rested on her fingers. The Healers conversation still played in her head: _Since it was Morrighan who had flooded him with Light, the extent of the damage could be severe. He was lucky you managed to get her off in such a short amount of time, but...only time will tell how he fares. Please don't worry, General Stalwart._ She had threatened that Healer's life if Trentis died on his watch. "Mother…" Riuyuki's soft voice came to her.

"Go away."

"I brought you some food." Riuyuki set the bowl of stew next to Resza.

She straightened in the chair, wincing at the stiffness in her back. "Thanks." Resza ate as Riuyuki walked to the other side of the bed and looked down at Trentis.

"Is he going to make it?"

"The Healers say he has a good chance of getting through it, if he wakes up."

Resza finished and tossed the bowl back on the bed side table. "Have you even slept, Mother? It's been three days."

"Nope."

"You got to sleep. The Paladins may have withdrew, but they could be here again."

He backed away as Resza glared at him. "I tore off their Goddess's wing! I would have killed her if those other Dark Knights didn't hold me back…"

"The Darkness had almost taken you over. You would have murdered _everyone_ if they didn't knock you out."

"They should have let me finish her off first."

Riuyuki sighed as he watched Resza stroke Trentis's hair. "I'll leave you for now, but after a week I'm going to be dragging you out of here."

Resza smiled a little and shut the door behind him. She stood there for a moment holding the door knob. Trentis wouldn't want her just sitting here doing nothing. He had made her the eyepatch she wore now while she was out cold from the arrow that took her eye. Resza flung open the door and rushed to the weapons room. It took a long time before she found the perfect one. The staff was one of the dragon staves used by the old Royal Mages before they were disbanded in favor of Royal Alchemists. The dark silver staff had a dragon curled around the top, holding a circular magic catalyst. She took it and went down to the dungeons. "I need to see Goibne."

"In his cell or in the torture room?" The jailer asked.

"Cell."

He jerked his head towards where they were keeping the man. Resza muttered her thanks and strode off down the hall. "Resza!" She jerked back as hands grabbed her skirt.

Her dagger was drawn in an instant. "Let go before you lose a hand."

The man who grabbed her quickly released her but continued smiling up at her. "I'm so happy I get see my daughter!"

His eyes were full of pride and his dark red hair was dirty from sleeping off the alcohol in the cell. "My parents died. I have no time to deal with a half drunk man." Resza began to walk off.

"Just ask Cichol who Valricore is!" The man called out, his arm hanging out of the bars, waving at her. "He'll know! I'm so proud of you!"

Resza shook her head. Cichol had told her that her parents were dead as soon as she was old enough to ask where they were. She made a mental note to ask Cichol, however. Might as well get some sort of information, however useless, from Cichol. That prisoner was full happiness, even in this dark place when he had seen her. Many just backed away in fear or threatened her in their pitiful states. She came upon Goibne's cell. "Hello, Goibne."

He was one of the more well fed prisoners because he was a bargaining piece for the Dark Knights. "Hello, General." He said from his corner.

"I have a favor to ask, Goibne."

The man glanced at the dragon staff in her hands. "Will that become a weapon of war?"

"No. I need it to…" she hadn't thought this through at all. Might as well wing it. "Someone may be blind, I don't know. I need this staff to enable them to 'see' in a sense."

"That will be quite easy. However," the man had a glint in his eye. "What will you give me in exchange?"

"Immunity from making us weapons of war."

"Deal."

"How long will it take to make?" Resza asked as Goibne examined the staff through the bars.

"A few days."

"I need it faster. What if I help you?"

Goibne eyed her sword. "You're a magic user?"

"Yes, but I prefer blades."

"Then it would take only a few hours if you're a strong one."

"I am." Resza took the staff back from him.

"Let us get to work, General."

* * *

When she came back from the dungeons, Trentis was sitting up. He turned his head towards the doorway when he heard footsteps. "I'm here." Resza said as she quickly went to his side and kissed him.

"How long was I out?"

"Three days."

"Can they take these bandages off my eyes?"

"I...Trent…"

He heard it in her voice. "There's no bandages."

"The Healers aren't sure if it's...permanent…"

His sightless eyes stared into her own. "Vampires regenerate. This won't be perman-"

Resza placed her finger on his lips. "Since the Light was from such a powerful source, they're not sure if even vampire regeneration will help."

The incubus was silent for a moment, then he asked: "I won't be able to see our child, will I?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8.**

"My lord," Resza kneeled down before the throne. "You summoned me?"

"How does Trentis fare?" Cichol asked.

 _Like you care about him._ "Quite well. He's getting proficient at using the dragon staff to 'see' in a sense." Resza answered politely.

"Did you do that yourself?" She frowned as he leaned forward.

 _ **He knows. You cannot lie.**_ "I...No. I had Goibne's help."

Cichol shifted in his throne, pleased he had caught her into a corner. "You employed the help of an enemy prisoner? What did you promise him?"

Resza refused to raise her eye to the God. "That he would not create weapons of war for us."

"So you jeopardized our war for your husband?"

She hadn't thought of it like that, but her heart beat faster from anger. She rose from her knees. "I did not jeopardize the war for my husband, Cichol. If you-"

"What could I have done, Resza? Tell me."

"If you had let me kill Morrighan, this war would have been over!" Resza advanced on Cichol, only being stopped by the sound of swords being pulled from their sheaths. "We could have completely toppled the Paladins by killing the Goddess!"

The God laughed loudly. "You can't kill a God, whelp."

The gloves on his hands prevented Resza from seeing his knuckles turn white from clutching the throne. _If she had killed Morrighan, she would have gone after me, too._ "What about Nuadha?!"

"He was banished, not killed."

Resza's hands clenched into fists. "May I ask a question, my lord?"

"You may."

"Why should I believe you when you have lied to me about my parents?"

Cichol's smile from under his hood faltered. "What? I didn't-"

"You did. My father, Valricore, is alive." Resza turned on her heel and left the room, leaving the God sitting there with his fear rising. _Once that child is born, I have to destroy those two._

* * *

Trentis was standing, clutching at the dragon staff as he used mana to create outlines of his surroundings. Resza stood near him. "Can you see?"

"A little." The incubus said.

Resza watched him take a few hesitant steps. He had gotten used to the mana seeing, but hadn't walked around using it in a moving environment. "Once you walk around enough then we can train again."

"Oh, I'm sure I can still beat you." Trentis turned his head to her direction and then broke into an even bigger smile. "Resza!"

"What?"

"I...I can see our child's outline."

Resza glanced down at her stomach with a grin. Her armor was getting a bit tighter, so she was having it modified. "Really? What do they look like?"

"It's a girl…" Trentis lay his hand on her stomach to get a better look at the baby growing inside. "We're have a daughter."

Resza placed her hands over his, laughing. "You ruined the surprise! I wanted to see what our baby was when they came out, but oh well. We're having a daughter."

It felt odd to know what this child was. Her first was a boy and now a girl. "Trentis," Resza kissed his forehead. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you in time to save-"

"Don't." Trentis stood straight and began to walk around again, slowly turning his head and hand to see the room.

"But I am! If I had been quicker-"

"You did what you could. I don't blame you."

Resza watched him, tears forming in her eye. "I just don't want you ever getting hurt."

He paused. "I don't want you to ever get hurt either, especially now, but this is war and things happen. You made me this staff to help me work through this and I appreciate it, love."

"By the way," Resza played with her wedding ring. "I met my father."

"Aren't your parents-"

"No. Valricore told me he did support Cichol at one point in time, which is why he gave me up to the Dark Knights, but now he supports the Milletians and no one else. However," she suppressed a laugh. "He's not happy I'm married to a Fomor. I told him you're quite normal but he thinks you're just a sex machine."

Trentis came back over to her and kissed Resza. "Oh, but I _am_ a machine. You would know."

"Hey now," Resza pulled back with a smile and lightly slapped his cheek. "There are families here!"

"Just wait til I get discharged."

"Oh?"

"You're not leaving the room for a week."

"Are you that hungry, my incubus?"

His sightless eyes looked into hers as he leaned forward and whispered against her lips. "Starving for your touch, your lips, your voice."

Resza felt her face growing hot. "Stop making me blush, damn it."

"I'm not sorry." He didn't even flinch as she slapped his cheek lightly again.


End file.
